Her Man
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: All week he was her husband, but just for one night, he was just her man. Fluff Alert! This is majorly fluffy people! You have been warned!


With a dozen red roses and a bottle of champagne in hand, Tony Stark walked into his Malibu mansion, intent on reminding his wife of why exactly they were married. His determination had started this morning when on his way up the stairs to retrieve a new tie, he had caught Pepper walking down the stairs. It was nothing unusual except for the fact that the look in her eyes was almost as if she had no clue she even knew him much was legally bound to him.

He quickly dug a couple of champagne flutes out of the cabinet, filled the ice bucket from his mini-bar and shoved the bottle into the bucket before setting everything up on the mini-bar and setting the flowers beside the ice bucket. Some digging through the cabinets produced two candles and with a sharp command, Jarvis had a playlist of soft, romantic songs playing on loop.

He dimmed the lights, lit the fireplace and candles and set about making himself comfortable. Within a few seconds his cufflinks were sitting on the coffee table, his jacket was flung over the back of the chair and he was working the knot out of his tie when he heard Jarvis opening the door for Pepper.

"Tony?" Pepper called, her heels clicking on the marble floor as she made her way into the living room. She dropped her briefcase and reeled back in shock at the romantic setting before her. "Tony!"

"Sweetheart," Tony smiled, loosening the knot and pulling his tie over his head. "Good day at work?"

"What's all this?" Pepper asked him, almost breathless as she slid out of her high heels and shrugged out of her blazer.

"Well," Tony walked over to the mini-bar and reached for the champagne. "It started this morning."

"What about this morning?" Pepper asked him in confusion as she watched him.

"It was the way you looked at me," Tony told her, popping the cork out of the champagne bottle and pouring the fizzing alcohol into the flutes. "You looked as if you didn't know me."

He held the stems of the champagne flutes between the fingers of one hand and grabbed the roses with the other. He walked over to her and held the flowers out to her, watching as her eyes filled with tears. Her eyes were dark and apologetic as she cradled the flowers in the one arm and took the offered drink with her free hand.

"I'm sorry," Pepper shook her head, looking up at him. "I didn't realize."

"I realized this morning that we haven't really had any husband and wife time this week if you were starting to look as if you didn't really know me." Tony told her, taking a sip of his drink. "I knew things needed to change."

"We've just been so busy this week.." Pepper sighed as she set the flowers down in the chair where Tony's jacket lay, flung over the back before turning back to her husband. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"Shh," Tony shushed her, slipping the glass from her and returning them to his mini-bar. "It's not your fault."

"But-"

"Pepper," Tony interrupted her, "Sweetheart, I love you. I know that our busy schedules can get in the way but tonight, let's forget about all of that."

The opening notes of a familiar song filled the room. Without another word, Pepper sank into her husband's arms, letting him pull her into his warm, muscular body. She wrapped her arms around him and let him lead her. Instead of being a well-timed and choreographed dance, it was just the two of them swaying to the rhythm and reconnecting through the song that they had shared their first dance as husband and wife too.

"I love you." Pepper whispered, her voice thick with tears as she looked up at him. "I really love you."

"I know you do, Sweetheart." Tony nodded, his warm brown eyes staring at her with a calm reassurance of something she already knew. "I love you too, but I think it's time we took time out of our busy schedules for us. Forget the world and just be us again. Be Tony and Pepper."

"Me too." Pepper nodded, burrowing deeper into his arms. "I just wanted you to know that I love you."

"I always know, Sweetheart." Tony murmured, nuzzling his face into the top of her head. "Sometimes, it's good just to reconnect and show each other just how much."

She slid her arms around his neck and raked her fingers through his tumble of brown hair that had at one time been neatly combed. His eyes were dark and smoldering when she met his intense gaze and his hands slid down to her hips. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her. It seemed like an experiment at first, just testing the waters if you will. She dragged her fingernails along his scalp and groaned when he deepened the kiss. He pulled and tugged at her blouse until he had it untucked from the confines of her pencil skirt and could slip his hands underneath the soft blue cotton and feel the soft flesh of her stomach.

"All week," Tony mumbled pulling away slightly, "I've been your husband. Not tonight. I don't want to be your husband, your best friend or even your boss. Tonight I'm just Tony. Your man. Nothing else. Tonight we're just Tony and Pepper."

"I can do that." Pepper nodded her head, "I can definitely do that."

She backed up to the couch and pulled him down with her, settling him on top of her as he continued his exploration of her stomach. He pulled his hand from her stomach and reached for her left hand, sliding her engagement ring and wedding band off and setting them on the coffee table. She reached for his hand and pulled his wedding band from his finger and set it beside hers on the table.

"We're not husband and wife tonight. Just us." Tony smiled as he kissed her again. "Just let me show you how much I love you tonight. Tomorrow, we'll be husband and wife."

The fire crackled in the fireplace behind them, the champagne was warming up on the mini-bar, having long been forgotten about and the roses lay on a chair, needing water and a vase but Tony and Pepper could care less as they reconnected with each other and rediscovered a love that seemed to get lost in the chaos of the week.

And the next morning, when Tony slipped her wedding band back on her finger and she did the same for him, they became husband and wife again but not without the unspoken promise that six days from then, they would take the time to just be Tony and Pepper.

He was her husband, best friend and her boss. Except for one night a week.

One night a week, he was just Tony.

Her man.

* * *

><p><strong>I listen to way to many sappy love songs! Based on the Andy Griggs song 'Tonight I wanna be your man'. Fluff alert! Anywho, after a long and extremely crappy day in which I was tired, cranky and inhaling large doses of chocolate to make it better, I wrote this. I hope you like it! Leave me some love, Dolls! <strong>

**Love, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove**


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